By Zhong Cheng
The Ukraine crisis is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy, UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned, especially over poor, developing countries that face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices, and are now seeing their breadbasket being bombed.
Alarm bells
Ukraine and Russia are critical to ensuring the food security of many other countries. The two together account for a quarter of the global grain trade and constitute a third of global wheat and barley exports. Ukraine is the fifth largest exporter of wheat in the world, as well as a large exporter of sunflower oil, along with oats and some other cereals.
Low- and middle-income countries are important beneficiaries of Russian and Ukrainian wheat. Forty-five African and least developed countries import approximately one third of their wheat from Ukraine or Russia, and 18 import at least 50 percent. These include Burkina Faso, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The scramble is worse coming just weeks before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally break a dawn-to-dusk fast with lavish family meals.
According to the UN, some 13 million individuals worldwide, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East will suffer starvation because of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In Europe, officials are preparing for potential shortages of products from Ukraine, and increased prices for livestock feed that could mean more expensive meat and dairy if farmers are to pass costs on to consumers.
Countries, rich and poor alike, are suffering. At a time when global food supply chains are choked due to the pandemic, the Ukraine crisis is worsening an already dire food security situation.
Multidimensional impacts
Wheat was also utilized as an effective weapon during the Cold War. The U.S. used it to confront the Soviet Union and prevent the dominance of the communist ideology over poor countries. In 1949, U.S. President Harry S. Truman devised a four-point strategy to contain communism. One of those points was to help developing countries with agricultural output. The U.S. sent its allies American wheat; those who chose to remain neutral got none. The Ukraine crisis might again prove the effectiveness of wheat as a weapon, either by raising prices, or by negotiating them based on the recipient countries’ political stance on the crisis.
In addition, since wheat, corn, and rice account for 40 percent of calories consumed globally, further escalating prices may damage not only economic development but also people’s nutrition and trigger a serious humanitarian crisis. In a world where 44 million people in 38 countries are vulnerable to a famine in 2022, as estimated by the World Food Program, the Ukraine crisis’ impact could be catastrophic and far-reaching.
China’s actions
As the largest developing country and a responsible major country, China has all along proactively participated in world food security governance. It has sent experts and technicians to Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific islands, and assisted countries in need to the best of its ability. China has now become the developing country that contributed the most funds, sent out the most experts and conducted the most projects under the UN Food and Agriculture Organization South-South cooperation framework. Since COVID-19 began, China has been actively responding to initiatives of international organizations. China offered technical and material support to countries affected by locust plagues and emergency food aid to a dozen others at their request. China actively puts forward propositions in the UN, the Group of 20 and other multilateral forums, and works with all parties to safeguard the stability and security of the international food supply chain to avert regional crises.
On the Ukraine crisis, China’s position is clear. It stands for peace and opposes war. The pressing priority is to keep the dialogue and negotiations going, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis, and cease hostilities as soon as possible. An enduring solution would be for major countries to respect each other, reject the Cold War mentality, refrain from bloc confrontation, and build step by step a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture for the region and beyond.
China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, provided to Ukraine much-needed humanitarian supplies such as food, medicine, baby formula, sleeping bags, quilts and damp-proof mats, and is ready to provide further humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and other affected countries. -The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News Exchange Item
